Well, the vulcanite on a FED I I got to play with had turned brownish-green-
like the vulcanite stems on some of my pipes- since I haven't smoked since
1986, I suppose that Vulcanite 'oxidises' with age and di-use!
Since this is going to be a 'shelf camera' I blackened the shell with Kiwi
Edge Dressing- a dye for coloring shoe sole edges, and it is designed not to
rub off to mark floors, so I figured if it would dye leather and rubber shoe
soles, it would work on vulcanite! It seems to have done the job- the shell
of the old FED looks like new, it doesn't rub ofgf on my hands, so for
display purposes, it works. When I get the shutter curtains in, I will test
it out, and see if the finish is as durable as it looks. I figured that if
this stuff would stick to a shoe sole with all the wet and abrasion it would
get, that a camera body would be a walk in the park!
I have used Fiebing's Leather Dye for touching up the color on the real
leather on a Rollei with excellent results!
Dan
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Austin Franklin" <austin@darkroom.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 9:07 AM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Vulcanite
>
> > Finally, I would avoid BackToBlack, Black Magic, etc. Great on a
> > car bumper,
> > but these products are almost pure silicone. Silicone is a strong eye
> > irritant, and you are certain to transfer it from the camera to your
face
> > and eyes. It's also VERY slippery (which is why you never put
> > such stuff on
> > your motorcycle seat or steering wheel!) possibly leading to Dropped
Leica
> > Syndrome.
> >
> > I'm a member of the Lexol camp. Wipe on, wipe off, let sit
> > overnight, polish
> > residue off with a soft cloth.
>
> Anyone tried "Venetian Cream" from Fargo (Micro-Tools)? I tried it on a
> Super Ikonta last night...and it looks like it did a really nice job...
>
>